Pheasant Fajitas

Pheasant Fajitas

Being the hunting season, you might have brought back some game birds, which are remaining frozen for want of a good recipe, or the time to prepare them. Well, defrost them, for you no longer have any excuses.

I enjoy cooking a variety of recipes from different nationalities, and wild games dishes, and pairing them with good microbrewery or import beers. One of the prerequisites is that the recipe be fast and easy to do, and above all else, taste great. My goal is to always enjoy good food, beer and conversation, and minimize the time in the kitchen. Some wild game dishes take special care and cooking because of the lean meat or other considerations, but this recipe requires no special care and is very easy to produce and looks colorful on the plate.

If you like Pheasant, you’ll love my Pheasant Fajitas recipe for two Pheasant breasts, skinless and boneless. You can substitute two Grouse breasts or other game birds; even Chicken breasts if you’re squeamish about eating wild game. Take ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice, ¼ cup cooking oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and six to seven minced cloves of fresh garlic (adjust the garlic according to your own tastes after trying this amount) along with three or four shakes of black pepper and mix. It just takes a few minutes to make the marinade. You can take a fork or a device called a super meat tenderizer made by Jaccard that is sold in good kitchen shops to pierce the breast all over to allow the marinade to penetrate better and add flavor. If at all possible, prepare the marinade the night before and marinate the breasts overnight for the absolute best taste. If you have to do them the same day, four hours is really recommended with two hours being the absolute minimum. Do not slice the meat, as it will only dry out in cooking. Start the Pheasant about four or five minutes before the vegetables over an open grill. Add one green bell pepper sliced, one red bell pepper sliced (one sliced yellow bell pepper is optional), one large Yellow onion sliced in wedges and two medium tomatoes sliced in wedges.) When you add the vegetables, pour a little of the left over marinate on them as they cook to add a little flavor. Watch out for a flare-up when you add the marinade to the vegetables. The time to cook the breasts will be determined by how large the breasts are. Just be sure they are well cooked and white inside. Just remember, that you’ll need a fine grate for your BBQ to keep all the ingredients from falling through the regular grate onto the coals.

Serve the breast whole with the cooked vegetables to the side or over the breast. No sour cream or guacamole is necessary, as the tastes you’ll experience will make your taste buds explode with delightful sensations. Serve with refried beans and Spanish rice if desired. I don’t serve Tortillas because the breasts are served whole, and I don’t try and make a rolled hand held meal out of it, but everyone to their own style. Once you have Fajitas prepared this way, you’ll never want to have Fajitas prepared in a commercial brown marinade in a restaurant again. As the suit salesman would say, “I guarantee it”.

There are several great beers that add to the enjoyment of this meal. Serve with Ayinger Heffeweizen, which is a German wheat beer, which has a distinctive character, pleasant aroma, and a taste unique to most other wheat beers. Ayinger has several different Weisse Beers that are all distinctive and different but true to the Hefe-Weizen style since they really started that style of beer several hundred years ago. The beer is characterized by the use of “noble-type” hops, which gives it a low bitterness and hop flavor. All their beers are unfiltered and conform to the Reinheitsgebot purity law of 1516. Another import, Paulaner Hefeweizen, made in Munich for over 360 years by Paulaner, is a classic hefeweizen beer, which is usually served with a slice of lemon floating atop the beer. Both beers are available in most good liquor stores.

For a local New Mexico brew, find some Sierra Blanca Pilsner at your liquor store from Sierra Blanca Brewing Co. located in Carrizozo, NM. They have several other beers, which would be great choices to accompany the meal. Their Nut Brown Ale is outstanding, and the finest I’ve found in the entire southwest. Its rich in character, aroma, taste and appearance. A great complement to any meal. They also make a wonderful new Alien Ale with eight different types of hops. It’s a complex beer with outstanding taste that will delight your taste buds. You’ll notice this beer on your dealer’s shelves, because you’ll find a little green face with large dark eyes staring at you. You’ll also find it on tap at your favorite nightspot, in the darkness, because of the green glowing face on the tap handles

With over 450 microbreweries in America, there is no reason why anyone should drink the mass produced beer, which lacks taste and character with a good meal. There are plenty of opportunities to try and pair great beers with great food, just like wine is paired with good food. Granted, not every microbrewery makes great beer nor are all their beers great. In travels from Missouri to Nevada and from Montana to Louisiana, I’ve only found ten microbreweries out of several dozens whose entire line of beers could be considered outstanding. There are to many microbreweries whose products need more work and attention, but hopefully they’ll learn from their mistakes and eventually produce some wonderful beers for us all to enjoy. Until then, Prosit! Und Guten Appetite!